A tree doesn’t will itself into growth.
It’s the conditions surrounding a tree that enable its growth.
Healthy soil. Rain. Sunshine. Some tree friends.
(No seriously, read about the roots of redwoods and aspens. See? Tree friends.)
Given the right conditions, the tree will grow because it’s the nature of a tree. And a flower. And a vegetable. And the entirety of the natural world.
Yet when us wise humans think of growth, we typically default to doing. We set goals, we create habits, we work hard, we compete.
None of those things are bad. In fact, they’re great. They’re just incomplete.
We’re not separate from nature, hard as we may try. After all, we’re quite literally made of stardust, along with the rest of the natural world.
If growth is what we’re after, the conditions surrounding us will have more of an impact on our growth than anything else.
My goal isn’t to convince you of this. Just look at how life works.
If you surround yourself with friends that run, you likely will start running. If you surround yourself with friends that party, you likely will party.
If you live in a city that drains your energy, you likely will struggle. If you live in a city that gives you energy, you likely will thrive.
If you’re constantly stressed, your growth will stunt and your life will be shorter because of it. No different than a tree. But some stress and adversity can lead to even greater growth. No different from the stress required for the grapes of a great pinot.
Goals can be good. Habits can be good. Shear determination can be good.
But improving the conditions that surround us?
That’s when growth becomes the natural endpoint. After all, it’s in our nature.
(And if you’re super into tree analogies, I wrote a whole book on one.)
If you find value in the things I publish here, it’d mean the world if you’d share it with someone else. It’s the only way this space and community continues to grow.
✌️ and ❤️,
Adam Griffin